Town Square

Big shift for district board

Original post made
on Jul 6, 2012

Three out of five trustees from Mountain View's elementary and middle school district have announced they will not seek re-election when their terms expire this fall, paving the way for a big shift in the makeup of the board, according to the board's president.

Posted by Steven Nelson
a resident of Cuesta Park
on Jul 7, 2012 at 9:35 am

There are many things that Mr. Olson has contributed as a board member, and current President. It is indeed a large commitment to this type of position (also the HS Board and the City Council). Several of the members on these government bodies have essentially made community service in-lieu of full-time employment commitments. I personally know Walter, Wheeler, and Mitchner (schools) and Siegal and Bryant (city) have made this commitment.
Stephen stepped up to run (2008), even though he has a full-time job in finance at Stanford. IMO, it was much better to have a 'stand up' rather than an appointed member. The problem with appointment? Board members tend to appoint those who 'think like themselves'. A 'team'. But look at Penn State athletics - or the dire administrative problems at Woodside and Portola schools to see some of the pitfalls of 'team thinking'.
I like my local democracy lively with ideas - have you been to one of our wonderful city council meetings lately! What a great standard of lively discussion, new ideas, compromise, and open community input (how many citizens does it take to do an environmental plan - or a Rengstorff Park plan?)

Some board members run for school board just while their kids are in schools in the district so they can put pressure on the system to get their kids the best treatment. I'm not sure how much it is actually about the schools and the community. It's politics after all.

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